Greece backs EU ambitions of North Macedonia and Albania

French President Emmanuel Macron has been skeptical over the two nations' hopes to join the bloc. Icy relations between North Macedonia and Greece have thawed since the former agreed to add 'North' to its name.

Greece offered words of encouragement to North Macedonia and Albania on Thursday as the two countries' efforts to open accession talks with the European Union continue to be frustrated.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that "despite reservations'' the EU is "keeping its doors open.''

Mitsotakis said Greece wants both its neighbors in the EU and said their efforts will come to fruition "at some point.''

Still hoping for a U-turn

Last month French President Emmanuel Macron led a small group of EU leaders who blocked accession talks.

"We are disappointed," North Macedonia's Prime Minister Zoran Zaev said after meeting Mitsotakis on the sidelines of an economic forum in Thessaloniki in northern Greece.

Zaev said he had received "huge encouragement" from his Greek counterpart adding that "there is no alternative for us," referring to North Macedonia's EU aspirations.

Watch video 05:39

President of North Macedonia discusses EU membership chances with DW

Both North Macedonia and Albania are EU candidate countries. However, even when accession talks begin, it can still take several years before officially joining the bloc. Negotiations with the EU's most recently installed member state, Croatia, lasted eight years.

Shape-shifting Macedonia

Present day

As well as Greece and North Macedonia, the geographic region of Macedonia extends into Albania, Bulgaria and Serbia as well as small areas of Kosovo (which you can't quite see here).
Shape-shifting Macedonia

Greek origins

The ancient kingdom of Macedonia – or Macedon – was a relatively small part of the present day Greek province of Macedonia. It first expanded under King Perdiccas I, then widened to take in other areas.
Shape-shifting Macedonia

A Roman province

After the fall of the Greek Empire, the Romans – who admired Alexander – used the old name Macedonia for the province encompassing much of northern Greece and the area north of it – including much of the modern-day North Macedonia.
Shape-shifting Macedonia

A shift to the east

With the breakup of the Roman Empire into East and West, this region was overrun by the Slavic invasions. An entirely new province far to the east, including part of Thrace in modern-day Turkey, was named Macedonia by the Byzantine Empress Irene of Athens.
Shape-shifting Macedonia

Ottoman roots for current concept

The geographic region known as Macedonia today roughly equates to the part of the Ottoman Empire known as Ottoman Vardar Macedonia. It included Greek and Slavic areas and was split into three administrative units, but the concept of Macedonia persisted. This remained the case for centuries and so this concept – of what Macedonia is – has stuck.
Shape-shifting Macedonia

Let's put that all together...

...and there's certainly a fair bit of overlap — and room for confusion.
Shape-shifting Macedonia

Small matter of empire

Of course, Macedonia's King Alexander the Great's realm stretched all the way to India — but it would be a bit of a stretch to call that Macedonia
Shape-shifting Macedonia

A heady mix of flavors

As if it weren’t complicated enough, there’s another meaning of the word Macedonia. In Greece and many Latin-language-speaking countries, it’s also a fruit salad. The name is thought to have ben popularized at the end of the 18th century, referring to either the ethnic diversity of Alexander's vast empire or the ethnic mix of Ottoman Macedonia.

Author: Richard Connor